[i习作temp] issue36 高频练习求互拍 [复制链接]

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电梯直达

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发表于 2005-8-2 14:50:39 |只看该作者 |倒序浏览

36"The greatness of individuals can be decided only by those who live after them, not by their contemporaries."

Syllabus
1 in some situation contemporaries can recognize the greatness of individuals
2 the later generation evaluate people in a different angle from the contemporaries
3 for some individual their greatness can only be realized by the later generation

Who have the right and the ability to evaluate an individual? The speaker claims that only later generation can decide the greatness of individuals. In my view, both contemporaries and later generation can evaluate individual, but for some individuals, their greatness can only realized by those who live after them.

In most cases, individuals’ greatness can be recognize and decide by their contemporaries who live around them also as members of the society which they are in. Individuals, as cells of the society, whose greatness are largely presented by their contributions to the welfare of the society. Those who live in the same society, under the same social and historical circumstances with the individuals, are usually the ones who share the same spiritual condition with them, the ones who can best understand their hardness and struggle in making such contributions, and maybe the ones who benefit greatly from their contribution, thus the ones who have the right and ability to decide their greatness. Take Martin Luther King for example: King was just one of the black people who suffered from racial discrimination, and also one of the few who stand up and cry out for liberty and equality. His words and action wakened and encouraged thousands of his contemporaries-both black and white-to stand together and form a harmonious society. King’s contemporaries believe him to be a hero, for he managed to materialize the dream that others longed for but not dare or not able to realize and salvage thousands of black people out of oblivion or even humiliation. And maybe people other than kings’ contemporaries can hardly feel half of the bitterness of discrimination as well as half of the joy of equality, thus, his contemporary are better to decide his greatness than others.

However, the people who live after the individuals also have the ability to define their greatness, though from a different angle. The contemporaries of the individuals usually concern more about the material aspect, that is, what they can gain through certain events promoted by the individuals, so their evaluation of individuals largely depends on whether their contribution can make effects in a short period of time. Whereas the later generations usually have a grander view, for they have seen the long-term impacts of certain decisions or discoveries made by the individuals. One needs to look no further than science to see this. When Faraday finally discovered electricity, to which he had devoted ten years of his life, a lady asked him what electricity can be used for. “Well, tell me what a new born baby will become.” That is Faraday’s answer. Maybe Faraday himself did not know clearly how his new discovery can be used, but his answer did make sense. Faraday’s contemporaries may just consider his work as revealing a secret of nature but did not truly respect in for it is unpractical; however, the later generations who seriously rely on electricity would give F more admiration.

Further, there are some individuals whose ideas and thoughts transcend the understanding of their contemporaries, so that they can only be correctly evaluate by the people who live after them. There are many important truths begin as outrageous, or at least uncomfortable, attacks upon the accepted wisdom of the time. Those who discover such truths usually underwent criticism and persecution of his contemporaries, but as time goes by, people would gradually realize the truth and adjust their estimation. Copernicus, whose sun-centered theory was not accepted even by most of the scientists until a century later, was severely oppressed by his contemporaries; however, the later generations admire him and take him for the founder of modern astronomy.

All in all, besides the later generations, the contemporaries can also decide the greatness of the individuals. However, I concede the speaker’s conclusion is partly correct.

2005 Aug 25 北京
努力改文（别人的和自己的）~~ooo